Alright, Pretty bad question to ask but i want/need to learn how to, I currently own a mig welder and i can manage to bunch up a bunch of wire to hold something but hehe dont look to pretty, any good books or techniecs?

Also what type of welder should you use to make things like tubular frames/exausts and Floor pans?

Kyle

How old are you? I learned in high school.. I have a mig welder now, but no gas, so I just use flux weld, and it looks pretty butt ugly.. I made an engine hoist out of an arc welder, and I think I like that better.. (Still doesn't look pretty though).

I REALLY want a welder

Was my favorite thing to do, back in highschool... I could weld a trailer together, and with the same thing, weld nails together.

One of the few things I was any good at, really...

I learned in High school. It wasn't that hard, but a good instructor is crucial.

Since then, my brother in law has helped me out.. he was a Navy welder.

As far as learning on your own, I would highly recommend finding someone to guide you. There are many little things to know that you can't learn by yourself...

PS In high school I didn't think watching the other guys weld was going to hurt my eyes...

On the way home, on the bus, I thought I had sand in my eyes. By the time I got home, I couldn't open my eyes.

4 days later, after having my eyes bandaged up for 3 days, I decided I should heed the advice of the instructor.

Practice and practice some more.

Sounds like you have your temp way too low.
Turn up your Voltage and turn down your wire speed some.
You have the welder you need for the projects you asked about.

Small hot welds are better than long cold ones. If you are welding sheet metal or anything under ¼ inch you will want to move around a lot, weld about ¾ to 1 ½ of an inch and let it cool while you weld on another part of your project. If you have an air compressor you can use an air nozzle to cool your welds.

Always wear you protective equipment. Gloves, shield and above all else safety glasses.

Structural welds should not be cooled, let them cool slowly. You will need to bevel ¼ inch or above metal if you have a low voltage welder. Take your time and don't try to fill it all at once. Welding more than one pass at a time is also a good way to control heat. Run several small beads instead of trying to weld one big one all at once.

Always wear you protective equipment. Gloves, shield and above all else safety glasses.

Try to weld everything as flat as possible, if you must weld out of the flat position go up hill. Moving your car around is not possible so remove the parts if you can.

Always wear you protective equipment. Gloves, shield and above all else safety glasses.

Always keep your leads in good shape check for cracks any holes in the insulation. If you get a hole in your Mig lead it will leak gas and your welds will get pinholes. Make sure you have a good ground, this will also effect your finale weld.

If you do get pinholes “porosity” grind it all out and start over if you just weld over it you will break the weld first time you stress it. Make sure you clean any structural material before you weld it. Paint, dirt and rust will cause any type of weld to break. Make sure you are getting enough gas at all times.

Always wear you protective equipment. Gloves, shield and above all else safety glasses.

Go to any good book store and I am sure you will find books on Welding.
You can also check some Vocational schools and see if they have a class that you can attend.

I attended a Vocational School the last 2 years of High school. I also welded in the Navy. After welding for 15 years I left that occupation to work with Computers. I have more welding certifications than Computer certifications Welding is still fun just takes its toll.

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Yeah - what Jake said!

Welding with a mig setup takes a bit of finesse and practice. It seems easier than using a stick welder but that is deceiving.

another word of caution - welding can be fatal!

you can easily electocute yourself, set your hair on fire, blind yourself, inhale poisionous gases and die...

there are lots of ways to get yourself in serious trouble with welding equipment - also with acetelyne equip you can blow yourself up if you dont know what you are doing.

This is really a good thing to take a local class on - cant beat hands on learning from a trained instructor.

Get a gas cylinder for your mig welder if at all possible. Welding with flux wire is messy and almost impossible to weld without pinholes.

Clean clean clean.

True there are no old welders they just look old.

quote Originally posted by Ken Wittlief: another word of caution - welding can be fatal! you can easily electocute yourself, set your hair on fire, blind yourself, inhale poisionous gases and die... there are lots of ways to get yourself in serious trouble with welding equipment - also with acetelyne equip you can blow yourself up if you dont know what you are doing. This is really a good thing to take a local class on - cant beat hands on learning from a trained instructor.

I am going to do a course starting on the 13th at our local college. Do you have similar there? I too bought a Mig but thought I best learn from the pros.

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My Fiero | Fiero Accessories

Hmm thanks for the Ideas, We dont have any welding classes in my high school , we have some collages around here that most likly have courses but will probley be alot of money.... We do have a local welding shop in town, Maybe tommrow i should take a ride down there and see if they need any help and instead of them paying me they can teach me how to weld.....

I need to get a floor and cab mounts in my truck and I want to work on some type of way to lighten up the fiero, and of course be able to do things such as exausts and other custom things...

Kyle

If your school doesn't offer welding classes (you're in H.S., right?) try your local community college. They usually have welding as part of some of their vocational classes. I took Gas welding when I was studying HVAC servicing. They also offered arc welding, but that wasn't needed for my curriculum. Check it out. Community College classes are usually pretty cheap!

For a pretty mig weld gas is a must. Then you must play around with wire speed, gas setting and current. Once you get your settings correct it is like laying a line of caulk. Just move the tip side to side a little bit over the two pieces of metal you are welding. Really pretty easy I learned in about an hour and got good with in a couple days. Although I was working in a factory doing it 10 hours a day.

any welding class you can take is inexpensive compaired to the lifelong - permanant damage you can do to your self if you make a serious mistake.

You can also get the terrorist handbook off the internet and make nitroglycerin in your kitchen, if you get my drift.

Welding equipment is very powerful stuff.

Get a bunch of scrap metal to practice on. I think the toughest part of it is starting the arc. Once you get the hang of that everything else comes pretty easy.

I took an 'industrial tech' course at the local community college when I was in h.s, found out I was pretty much a natural at welding. Got to play around with gas, stick, and mig welders. Never got to try out tig welding, though.

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1988 Quad 4 Coupe 5 speed
1986 GT 5 speed, 1984 SC Auto
AOL: LastMinuteBastrd AIM: SavedbyJebus

Always wear FULL safety gear!
Always wear FULL safety gear!

MIG welding is easy (you NEED to use a shedding gas though, flux-core is NOT structual IMHO.) Get a friend who knows how to weld to show you, or take a course, then go.

Always wear FULL safety gear!

I advise paying for the course, it is WELL worth it!

Always wear FULL safety gear!

TIG welding is a freaky voodo art, and I still don't fully understand it. It's lots of fun and produced the most AMAZINGLY perfect welds in just about anything.

Did I mention something about Always wear ing FULL safety gear!?!

Best!
Ben.

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Ben Cannon
88 Formula, T-top, Metalic Red. "Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives"
88 Formula, Northstar, Silver, In-Progreess. -Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"

well, i'm kind of learning the TIG welding thing right now at the FSAE shop.
it takes lots of practise. i can't wait to get started welding aluminum...

and what's all this hype about safety equipment? my eyes will grow back...

Tig is great for Stainless. Aluminum is good but I could do just as good with a wire feed.
Oh yea, WEAR YOUR SAFTY GLASSES. The spots will never go away.

I worked for 6 years welding in a sheet metal shop, wish I owned the Fiero then

[This message has been edited by Jake_Dragon (edited 02-04-2002).]

Well I bought a Haynes Welding Manuel.... been reading that... hopefully i can get a floor welded into my truck... it seems pretty easy in the book... how do you guys manage to see through the helmets? maybe cause i got a cheap 40$ hemlet its just junk but....

thats one of the tricks - with the black glass infront of your eyes you cant see anything till the arc is struck

and you shouldnt strike the arc till you have the glass infront of your eyes.

you need to hold the rod/wire close to where you are going to put the weld, then drop the mask down, and then flick the rod onto the metal to get the arc going - then you can see what you are welding.

half the time the rod will spot weld itself to the metal - takes a bit of practice to get the arc going when you are essentailly blind.

I have a pair of 1KW Quartz Halogen lights I train on the work, can see fine

Striking an arc is super easy with a MIG setup, you can touch the wire right on your work, then hit the button, and it won't go untill you're ready.

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Ben Cannon
88 Formula, T-top, Metalic Red. "Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives"
88 Formula, Northstar, Silver, In-Progreess. -Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"